RWBY 8 6 - Move and Counter-move
by Darkpenn
Summary: A valuable clue from a surprising source


**Move and Counter-move**

 _A valuable clue from a surprising source_

 _[Author's Note: This story follows the story_ Cry Havoc!, _and is the sixth episode of Volume 8.]_

In a room in a Menagerie guesthouse, a man was shaving. Then he trimmed his hair.

Adam Taurus looked at himself in the mirror. "Ah," he said. "There's the face I know and love."

He checked the duffle bag, ensuring that the packs of explosives – carefully taken from the weapons shipment from Atlas – were still secure. He checked that the mirror stolen from Emerald was still in the secret pockets of his coat, with the other items. He chuckled; stealing from a thief was always satisfying. He wondered if she had missed it yet. Or if Cinder had missed the glove with the Grimm beetle. And of course he still had the second portal stone from Salem's Frostfire castle.

He shouldered the bag and left the guesthouse. It would be a long walk to the cave in the mountains.

RWBY

"How come you know how to fly one of these things?" said Yang.

"Benefits of a mis-spent youth, with White Fang," said Blake.

They were coming up to the large house that Cinder and her crew had commandeered as the Governor's residence. As agreed, Emerald, Neo and Mercury were waiting for them; Blake put the airship down where they signalled.

"Ah, the welcoming committee from Hell," said Yang, as she and Blake walked down the ramp.

"Yeah yeah, it's horrible to see you too," said Mercury. "How come you only ever pay us a call when you want something?"

"Because you are deeply untrustworthy villains with no sense of social responsibility," said Blake.

"Hmm," said Emerald, as she led the way to the house. "That might be true. But I might point out that we have dragged Vacuo, sometimes kicking and screaming, out of the awful muck and into … better muck. Whipped them into shape, with actual whips."

"And we screwed the Schnee Dust Corporation along the way," said Mercury. "We should get some points right there."

"Okay, maybe a few for that," said Blake.

They went onto the porch of the house. Cinder was lying on a couch. She was pale and drawn. She gestured for them to sit.

"I am pleased to see that you do not look at all well," said Yang.

"Nora tells us that you dusted a few Grimm," said Blake.

"Something like that," said Cinder. "I will recover, although it will take a little while. But I am sure you did not come here to give me a get-well card."

Emerald appeared with a cup of herbal tea. She handed it to Cinder. "You guys get nothing," she said to Yang and Blake. "Be grateful that I'm not offering you something spiced with poison."

Yang shrugged. "What we want to know," she said to Cinder, "is whether you can tell us anything about an island called Sodor. Like where it is. We have reason to believe that it is Salem's new base."

Cinder considered as she sipped the tea. "No, I can't say I know it," she said. "I once heard Watts say that he had some of his equipment in another lab, in another castle. But there was no mention of a name or place. You know anything else about it?"

"Only that it might not exist at all," said Yang.

"Might have a volcano," said Blake.

"Uh, what was that?" said Cinder.

"It might have a volcano," repeated Blake.

"Hmm," said Cinder, putting down the cup. "Tell me, do you know where Grimm come from?"

"Er, no, not really," said Yang.

"Well, they come out of the ground. Crawl out of pits of hot mud. If they are wounded, they can go back into a pit and heal. There were pits all around Salem's castle in the Frostfire Waste. I don't know if they occur naturally or if Salem somehow makes them. A bit of both, probably. But there is an exception, Giant Nevermores. They are just too big to climb out of a pit. I have never seen it, but my understanding is that they are birthed from volcanoes."

"Ah," said Yang. "Like the one on Sodor."

"Possibly," said Cinder.

"So you are suggesting that we follow the trail of Giant Nevermores?" said Blake.

"I am saying that it's the best answer I can give you."

Yang and Blake looked at each other. "Better than nothing," said Yang.

"But not much," said Blake.

"She needs to rest now," said Emerald. "And you need to leave."

As Mercury and Neo walked with Yang and Blake back to the airship, Blake said: "Is Adam Taurus still one of your group?"

"No, not long ago he bid us a fond farewell and took off for parts unknown," said Mercury. "That is, after he had jacked up the Dust prices paid by the Schnees. Damn, he really enjoyed that. You should have seen him negotiate. Actually, 'negotiate' isn't the right word. More like vicious and personal threats."

"He would be good at that," said Blake.

"Neo, we saw an article on the newscreen about your rampage of terror in Vale," said Yang. "You know that that guy is utterly insane, right?"

Neo nodded, rather sadly.

"What are you talking about?" said Mercury.

"Er, nothing, nothing," said Blake. "Girl stuff."

Mercury sighed. "I will never understand women," he said.

"Which is as it should be," said Yang.

RWBY

"That's it," said May, handing Nora the telescopic sight of her sniper rifle. Hidden behind a pile of rocks, they were looking at an open plain not far from the northern coast of Sanus. "The surviving Grimm came back here. Some of the wounded ones went back into those pit things."

"I make it one Grimm coming out every seven seconds or so," said Nora. "Which adds up to … a helluva lot. Damn, it's no wonder that no matter how many we dust there are always more."

Nora watched Darius walk from one pit to the next. As a Grimm appeared, he (or maybe she, or it) would send it off in one direction or another, usually to join a troop of others.

"I always thought that Grimm were essentially mindless," said Nora. "But this is organised. Because of Darius." She passed the scope to Nebula.

"He lost a lot at Thorhild Valley," said Nebula. "I doubt that they will fall for a trick like that again."

"All they have to do is wait and build up their numbers," said May. "Eventually, there will be more of them than we can dust. Especially without Cinder to do her thing."

"Which means we have to launch a counter-attack before there are too many," said Nora. "Are there any more Hunters or soldiers available?"

"No, we've got everyone possible, even early-level students from Shade," said Nebula. "The only real defence for Shade and Vacuo is Ochre. Who is, of course, extremely powerful."

Nora looked up. There was a dozen Giant Nevermores circling slowly.

"It's because of them that we can't get any closer," said May. "I don't know where they come from, I haven't seen any come out of a pit. A few Gryphons, but no Nevermores."

Nora considered. "May, can you hit Darius from here?" she said.

May started. "It's over a mile," she said. "Even with my very special friend, the flight time of a bullet would be around eight seconds, meaning he would have to not move. The drop factor would be almost six feet, and that's if there's no wind. And of course with a single bullet it would have to be a head shot."

"Yes, it would have to be an incredible piece of marksmanship," said Nebula. "One for the record books."

"For the history books," said May.

"But … can you do it?" said Nora.

May Zedong smiled, and gave her rifle a pat.

END (to be continued – next story: _Fighting the Fire_ )


End file.
